Chapter 15
The physical exhaustion gave me a sense of mental relief.
In the bustling city, who knows what everyone is thinking behind their masks. No one can empathize when love or hate gets entangled in one's heart.
I curled up on the ground, hatred drowning me like the tide.
I want to make someone disappear, erase his existence from this world, thoroughly and completely.
There were two missed calls on my phone, from the same unfamiliar number. I didn't call back.
On my way back to the hospital through the tree-lined path, someone clearly called my name. I looked up and saw a man standing under the dense shade, wearing a white coat - the tall and slender Dr. Li from the hospital. As I got closer, it was Chief Li.
I walked right up to him. "Chief Li?"
"Bao Zhu," he hesitated, handing me a lunch box, "You haven't eaten yet, right? Come, sit and have a few bites!"
"Was it you who called me earlier? Sorry, I had something urgent to take care of then and didn't pay attention."
He smiled slightly. Under the shade, his features were gentle and refined, his eyes bright and clear - an unimposing man, cultured and composed.
I took the lunch box and sat down on the bench, and he sat down too.
"Thank you, Chief Li," I said.
He gave a wry smile. "Bao Zhu, have you forgotten my name?"
Me: "Of course not!"
"Then call me by my name. When you call me Chief Li, I feel like I'm already seventy or eighty years old."
I took a mouthful of rice mixed with beef soup: "Then thank you, Li Zhiyuan."
The food was very tasty. My companion didn't talk much either. The sunshine was pleasant, the breeze gentle. Sitting with this refined gentleman, exchanging a few casual words here and there, time passed by so quickly that I even tasted the skills of a master chef in the hospital cafeteria food. I finished every last bit of the meal.
After I finished eating, I closed the lunch box and put it away. "Li Zhiyuan, let me wash this and return it to you later." He gave a faint smile and nodded.
I sincerely said "Thank you" and then went back to the ward.
Juan said Lisa had come by earlier looking for me. Lisa is Ms. Lin's daughter, recently discharged from the hospital. She waited about an hour, and left when she saw I wasn't back.
I guessed that the two missed calls were probably from her.
So I called back: "Hello?"
"Bao Zhu, what's the matter?" His voice was low - it was Chief Li, Li Zhiyuan.
"I saw some missed calls, so..." I said.
"I saw you rush out earlier looking worried, so I wanted to ask if everything was alright," he said. "You didn't look well then."
I saved his number. It would be too rude otherwise next time.
Juan vividly described Ms. Lin's family affairs - Rolex had slapped Lisa across the face right in front of Ms. Lin's hospital bed, because Lisa talked back at him, accusing him of only caring about having a son and never caring about her or her mother, and that it was his mistreatment that caused her mother's illness.
Every family has its own troubles that are hard to fathom. People's joys and sorrows do not intertwine. Each unfortunate family has its own unique misfortunes.
The Obstetrics and Gynecology department witnesses much about human nature - some inspire hope and joy, others evoke fear and shock. You may marry someone who seems perfectly proper on the surface, only to uncover their true face when struck by a major illness.
But I didn't know why this little girl about to lose her mother wanted to see me.
Dr. Li said, "What a tragedy unfolding again before my eyes!"
Yes, life is a tragicomedy - more tragic than comic.